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Final Report—February 2011
FHWA-JPO-11-052
Version 1.00
Appendix C—Introduction of the Systems Engineering Process (SEP) for ITS Standards Development
Tailoring of the Systems Engineering Process for ITS Standards Development
The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) defines systems engineering as “...an interdisciplinary approach and means to enable the realization of successful systems.” The process is comprised of a set of tasks that “...focus on defining customer needs and required functionality early in the development cycle, documenting requirements, then proceeding with design synthesis and system validation while considering the complete problem.”**
The INCOSE process offers a globally well-respected best practice that provides a base from which the process can be customized to fit standards and development needs. For ITS standards development, specific portions of the INCOSE process have been adopted and/or modified to best meet needs. When followed, this customized process has shown itself to enable the development of high quality standards.
** For further detail, see: www.incose.org
A first-generation set of ITS standards was developed using a design-centric approach. The design-centric approach defined message and object solutions but did not capture or specify needs, requirements, and dialogs. Early deployments revealed that the design-centric approach left gaps in addressing user needs and requirements, and did not facilitate the widespread deployment of interoperable systems. In 2001, a systems engineering process was proposed and later adopted for use on new and revised ITS standards to address these gaps in user needs and requirements.
The current program goals have been partially met to improve standard quality and to verify the standard addresses user operational needs. Additionally, ITS technologies are being implemented to support infrastructure deployments and ITS standards are being used in deployments. Deployers are requesting help in procurement processes to guide deployment of interoperable systems and in testing processes to verify conformance to ITS standards. The ITS Standards Program has recently focused on the following efforts to aid in deployment of interoperable systems:
- An SEP has been tailored for ITS standards developers to include the development of user needs, requirements, and design solutions (dialogs and message or object sets) in the ITS standards.
- A methodology has been established for ITS standards deployers to verify conformance to the standards and to verify the standards support interoperability.
- Procurement guides and test procedures have been developed, by USDOT, to assist in wide-scale deployment for some ITS standards containing user needs, requirements, and design solutions.
Analysis of the ITS-JPO goals and objectives for 2011–2014 reveal an evolution that broadens the focus of the program from just deployment of infrastructure to a more comprehensive focus that includes vehicle connectivity applications. Therefore, vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure interfaces require more investment in the future. ITS standards that support infrastructure applications are necessary to enable the collection and distribution of information required by vehicle connectivity applications (e.g., NTCIP 1202 will also be used in the connected vehicle environment). For this reason, the ITS Standards Program focus (1) shifts towards the development of ITS standards to support vehicle connectivity applications, and (2) continues the process of modifying ITS standards to support infrastructure interoperability and add procurement guides and test procedures that support their wide-scale deployment. The development and modification of ITS standards will use the SEP where appropriate.
The following two tables describe the status of 23 standards in relation to the SEP. The first table (Table 5) identifies 10 ITS standards that have or are currently going through the SEP. The second table (table 6) identifies 13 ITS standards that should be considered for the SEP. The ITS Standards Program and modal partners will assess those that are on the list to determine which ones to move forward based on priorities (support for V2V/V2I, etc.).
Table 5: ITS Standards that have been or are undergoing the SEP
| Short Title | Std ID | SEP Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard for Transit Communications Interface Profiles | APTA TCIP-S-001 3.0.0 | To be determined | The standard has not yet been evaluated for completeness and correctness; therefore its status is unknown. |
| Object Definitions for Dynamic Message Signs (DMS) | NTCIP 1203 v2 | Complete | |
| Object Definitions for Environmental Sensor Stations (ESS) | NTCIP 1204 v2 | Complete | Published |
| Data Element Definitions for Transportation Sensor Systems (TSS) | NTCIP 1209 v2 | Complete | |
| Field Management Stations (FMS) – Part 1: Object Definitions for Signal System Masters | NTCIP 1210 v1 | In process | |
| Object Definitions for Signal Control and Prioritization (SCP) | NTCIP 1211 v2 | In process | |
| Object Definitions for Electrical and Lighting Management Systems (ELMS) | NTCIP 1213 v2 | Complete | |
| Object Definitions for Signal Monitoring Unit (SMU) | NTCIP 1214 v1 | In process | |
| Traffic Management Data Dictionary (TMDD) Standard for Center-to-Center Communications | ITE TMDD v3 | Complete | Published |
| Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) Message Set Dictionary | SAE J2735 v3 | Just started |
Table 6: ITS Standards to be considered for the SEP
| Short Title | Std ID | SEP Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Transportation Controller (ATC) Standard Specification for the Type 2070 Controller | ITE ATC Type 2070 | Consider | This standard is to be considered with the ATC Controller SEP effort |
| Commercial Vehicle Credentials | ANSI TS286 | Consider | |
| Standard for Common Incident Management Message Sets for Use by Emergency Management Centers | IEEE 1512 -2006 | Consider | This standard to be considered along with the rest of the IEEE 1512 set of standards |
| Standard for Traffic Incident Management Message Sets for Use by Emergency Management Centers | IEEE 1512.1-2006 | Consider | This standard to be considered along with the rest of the IEEE 1512 set of standards |
| Standard for Public Safety Traffic Incident Management Message Sets for Use by Emergency Management Centers | IEEE 1512.2-2004 | Consider | This standard to be considered along with the rest of the IEEE 1512 set of standards |
| Standard for Hazardous Material Incident Management Message Sets for Use by Emergency Management Centers | IEEE 1512.3-2006 | Consider | This standard to be considered along with the rest of the IEEE 1512 set of standards |
| Standard for Common Traffic Incident Management Message Sets for Use in Entities External to Centers | IEEE P1512.4 | Consider | This standard to be considered along with the rest of the IEEE 1512 set of standards |
| Standard for Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments (WAVE) – Over-the-Air Data Exchange Protocol for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) | IEEE P1609.11 | Consider | This is a standard used for wireless communications |
| Object Definitions for Actuated Traffic Signal Controller (ASC) Units | NTCIP 1202 v2 | Consider | |
| Object Definitions for Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Camera Control | NTCIP 1205 | Consider | |
| Object Definitions for Data Collection and Monitoring (DCM) Devices | NTCIP 1206 | Consider | |
| Object Definitions for Ramp Meter Control (RMC) Units | NTCIP 1207 | Consider | |
| Message Set for Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS) | SAE J2354 | Consider | This standard is being evaluated for support of V2V/V2I applications |